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ELECTIONS '98
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The Rediff Interview/ Ganapathy'The political and economic instability the country is facing may dilute the severity of the repression'The recent times have seen many defections and surrenders from the PW? Isn't this a sign that your party is losing hold?
Another reason was the flaws in our selection and training. Some comrades left because of that. Committees at various levels have identified these mistakes. Now we are rectifying them. We cannot expect the majority of the masses who join us to be ideologically enlightened. It is not possible to have all the people ideologically enlightened at the same time. Ideological enlightenment will take place hand in hand with the party's growth. Now the party is moving forward. As a result, surrenders and defections have decreased. Do you have any statistics to prove this? It is a fact. We can give you the statistics later. How do you account for the massive transformation in many of the people who have left your organisation? From being a person ready to kill and die for the party, some of them became Naxal hunters. A case in point is Jadala Nagaraj. After his surrender, he re-joined your squads, shot dead one of your leaders and escaped. This is a strategy to suppress the revolution. The imperialists are not directly fighting the masses. They are using the State to fight their fight. Through the State they use degenerated revolutionaries like Nagaraj to assist them. It is not surprising. It happens everywhere. Nagaraj's case is not a common phenomenon. We are not worried about such people. We have to worry only if the phenomenon becomes common, which it will not. We can minimise such recurrences by proper education, proper selection, recruitment, proper testing etc. What action do you propose against Nagaraj? The punishment for such betrayals is death in every revolution. But I cannot tell you when it will be executed. That depends on circumstances. What do you have to say to the allegation that you indulge in mindless violence? We deny it. We do not resort to mindless violence. What else is blowing up railway lines and tracks? All our operations are carried out with a purpose. Blowing up railway stations and tracks are for specific reasons. Categorising such actions as mindless violence is grossly incorrect. Such actions are the counter to State violence. We resort to such actions to protest against some incidents of repression. Sometimes, we do it to get our comrades who are in police custody released. It is the usual practice of the police to kill Naxals. We do it to save their lives. In future, when our movement has reached higher levels we will have to undertake such actions as military tactics. For instance, to sabotage the supplies to the army. In all our operations in public areas, we will try to ensure that the common people are not hurt. We will take all possible precautions. At what level is such decisions taken? The political actions are taken by the regional or state committees. You categorise annihilating somebody and blowing up tracks as political action? We consider actions taken with political motives as political actions. Only the implementation is military. What kind of discipline has been built into the party to stop excesses? Excess is a relative term. We consider all acts that might hamper the people's mobilisation and consciousness as excesses. We have all types of checks to prevent such excesses. From demotions to expulsions. Considering the recent incidents, the party is very serious about such checks. How do you view Advani's meeting with the chief ministers of the four states and the consequent formation of a central co-ordination committee to check Naxalism? You have suffered heavy losses after this. What's your strategy to counter it? This is very serious. Compared to the '85 and '91 offensive of the enemy, this third offensive is different. This repression shows a qualitative change. Now they are using highly developed communication systems, modern weapons. With World Bank loans, they are building a large network of roads. They are using helicopters and modern weapons. And the central government is involved in the repression much more than before. We comprehend the threat. But we require some time to educate the people and prepare them to resist this offensive. Meanwhile, we will face some loses as we are facing an enemy hundred times stronger than us. It is inevitable. You have to understand the recent loses in this context. But we are confident that we can repulse this attack. In any revolution, it is the ruling class that first starts the attack. People have to understand this. We have learned many lessons from the previous repression. Not only did we survive, we expanded also. In the second wave of repression in 1991, they used the ITBP (Indo Tibetan Border Police) and the BSF (Border Security Force). Initially, we were confused and suffered severe losses. But by 1995, we were in a position to strengthen our movement and spread. In the same manner, we will withstand the present wave of repression also. Our base is the masses. With their help we will tide over this repression. Another aspect is that we have the experience of two offensives. We will certainly step up our resistance and recruitment also. What do you think is the reason for the BJP's all-out hatred for your party?
The two State actions which you faced in the '80s and early '90s were tame ones compared to what the BJP is capable of unleashing. Even then, men, not only squad members but top leaders like Kondapalli Seetharamaiah and Sathiyamoorthy, broke under the stress. Many were killed. What will stop such a break-down again? I say again that the BJP is not the root of the heavy repression. Even if the BJP loses power tomorrow, the repression will continue. The next government that takes over will go ahead with it. Those same break-downs you mentioned are our strengths today. We have learned from experience. And with that experience we will be able to prevent such recurrences. How long do you expect this offensive to go on? Generally, it goes on for a long time. But today, the political and economic instability the country is facing may dilute the severity of the repression and curtail its duration. Do you think you will be able to hold on to the North Telangana guerrilla zone during this offensive? If not, what is your action plan? Retreat to Dandakaranya ( the PW's second guerrilla zone)? We are confident we can defeat the offensive by mobilising the masses. If we fail, we will have to retreat. Whether we will retreat to DK or the Eastern Ghats, or some other place, depends on the circumstances. Even if we have to retreat, we are confident of coming back. We have a vast country and vast masses. We are confident that we can create lot of struggle areas like North Telangana even if we lose it. It is the enemy who has to decide whether they want to face us in the NT and DK of today or in NTs and DKs throughout the country. What are your plans for the future? Where do you see the revolution going from here? We have started serious efforts to take the guerrilla zones of North Telangana and Dandakaranya from the primary level to the higher level. We are also eyeing the South and the East -- that is Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, East Godavari. Here the movement is in preparatory stage. We have to turn them into primary level guerrilla zones. Besides this, we will try for unification also. Your strategy appears to be 'unite and conquer'. In this light, do you see yourself having any relations with the CPI and the CPI-M? There is no possibility of any union with them as they are revisionist forces. But we do not rule out the rare possibility that we may co-operate with them in certain fields. Like, for instance, creating awareness among the peasantry. For the broader interests of the peasantry we may support their cause at the cadre level. But there will be no union. The PW does not have a public face. Since Kondapalli Seetharamaiah was ousted, you have been working as a faceless organisation. Why?
Do you see the revolution succeeding in your lifetime? How long will it take to 'overthrow the imperialists'? I am optimistic. But it is impossible to set a time frame. Will you, under any circumstance, arrive at a compromise with the ruling classes of today? No. At a personal level, do you ever see yourself moving away from the organisation? How can that be? I cannot be separated from the party.
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That is not true. Defections and surrenders are not increasing. They are coming down. They occur mainly because of repression. It happens in all revolutions, all over the world. It happened in China. When the revolution is at its ebb, defections do take place.
Let me make one thing clear: we do not hold the BJP government responsible for the present wave of repression. They are only tools in the hands of the imperialists. All the previous governments used to be tools of the imperialists, trying to suppress nationalist struggles for them. The BJP is also implementing the same repressive policy. Besides, the BJP is based on communalism and reactionary ideology. So they will try harder to suppress our movement.
Even if a revolutionary party wants to project someone as leader, it is not possible as we work underground. Under certain conditions some persons may achieve fame. The lessons we learned from the crisis in our party (mainly the ousting of Kondapalli Seetharamaiah and the defection of Sathiyamoorthy) spell out that public faces are not the correct thing to have. Our decision is that the party should be projected, not individuals. If a person tries to project himself, that should be checked. That's the party policy.